Palestinian filmmaker briefly detained at U.S. airport on way to Oscars

February 21, 2013

BNO NEWS

Immigration officials at Los Angeles International Airport
briefly detained the Palestinian filmmaker of the Oscar-nominated
documentary "5 Broken Cameras" while he was on his way to a dinner
preceding Sunday's Academy Awards.

Emad Burnat said the incident happened on Tuesday evening when
he, along with his wife and 8-year-old son, arrived at Los Angeles
International Airport after a flight from Turkey. He said he was
questioned for more than an hour as immigration officials
threatened to refuse him entry to the United States if he was
unable to provide proof of his Oscar nomination.

"They told me that if I couldn't prove the reason for my visit,
my wife Soraya, my son Gibreel and I would be sent back to Turkey
on the same day," Burnat, whose "5 Broken Cameras" is competing for
an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category, said in a
statement on Wednesday.

The family was on its way to Beverly Hills to attend a dinner
honoring the five nominated films for Best Documentary Feature. "5
Broken Cameras," which features a Palestinian farmer's non-violent
resistance against the actions of the Israeli army, is the first
Palestinian documentary ever nominated for an Oscar.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore, who is a governor of the
Academy's Documentary Branch, said Burnat and his family had
already spent nearly 6 hours at an Israeli checkpoint as they drove
to the Jordanian city of Amman to catch a plane. "While we awaited
Emad's arrival from the airport I received an urgent text from
Emad, written to me from a holding pen at the Los Angeles
International Airport," he said.

Moore said immigration officials did not believe Burnat, a
Palestinian olive farmer, when he told them he was on his way to
Sunday's Academy Awards and events preceding it. "Apparently that
was too much for Homeland Security to wrap its head around," said
Moore, who immediately stepped in to help resolve the
situation.

After more than 40 minutes of questioning, Burnat said his son
Gibreel asked him why they were still being held in the small
detention room at the airport. "I simply told him the truth: 'Maybe
we'll have to go back.' I could see his heart sink," the
Palestinian filmmaker said in his statement.

Moore said he immediately contacted Academy CEO Dawn Hudson and
COO Ric Robertson after receiving Burnat's plea for help. "They got
ahold of the Academy's attorney who is also partners with a top
immigration attorney and they went to work on it," he said. "I
called the State Department in D.C."

"After being held for somewhere between one and two hours, with
repeated suggestions that the U.S. may not let him into the country
- saying that they may send him back home - the authorities
relented and released Emad and his family," Moore said, describing
Burnat as "fairly shaken and upset" when he arrived at the
dinner.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials declined to
comment on the incident but described the country as a "welcoming
nation," adding that travelers may be referred for further
inspection for a variety of reasons. These reasons include identity
verification, intent of travel, and confirmation of
admissibility.

"Although this was an unpleasant experience, this is a daily
occurrence for Palestinians, every single day, throughout he West
Bank," Burnat said. "There are more than 500 Israeli checkpoints,
roadblocks, and other barriers to movement across our land, and not
a single one of us has been spared the experience that my family
and I experienced [on Tuesday]. Ours was a very minor example of
what my people face every day."